Temple Hills teen is 1 of 3 charged with assault in connection with brawl at a Chipotle in D.C.

A 16-year-old Prince George’s County boy was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on Thursday in connection with a brawl inside a Chipotle in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C.

Police did not release the boy’s name, and juvenile records in D.C. are not public.

The incident captured on video, which went viral in May, shows teens climbing on tables, throwing fists and hurling chairs at each other while patrons watch and try to avoid the fray. At one point, a young person wields a wooden high chair over his head, striking several others with it. Police said the teens had fled by the time they arrived.

The event prompted debate among local leaders about how to respond to large groups of teenagers gathering in public spaces and causing chaos and sometimes violence. Immediately after the brawl, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency, establishing an extended juvenile curfew.

There has been resistance among D.C. council members to implementing a juvenile curfew on an emergency basis. But lawmakers passed a permanent curfew in early May, before the Chipotle brawl, which goes into effect only after a period of congressional review.

Prince George’s County has implemented a juvenile curfew during the summer at National Harbor since at least 2024. The policy was sparked by growing concerns over unaccompanied youths, some of whom started fights or shoplifted from local businesses.

The county curfew bars anyone under 17 without an adult from the area from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday.

Brian Fischer, chief media officer for the Prince George’s County executive’s office, said the National Harbor curfew has reduced the number of incidents involving young people, noting the area hasn’t seen major issues with large teen gatherings over the past two years. Fischer previously worked in the media relations division of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

“These curfews have given parents and grandparents a major tool in their toolbox to make sure their kids are home at night and not out at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning,” Fischer said.

Laurel Mayor Keith Sydnor issued an executive order Thursday establishing a summer youth curfew for the second year in a row. The curfew will be in effect seven days a week from 10 p.m.-5 a.m., running from June 18-Sept. 8.

Sydnor, who has served as an elected official in the city for nine years, said last year’s Fourth of July weekend was the first so-called “teen takeover” at Laurel Town Center that he’s seen. The incident prompted him to order the temporary curfew this year.

Sydnor emphasized that the curfew is not meant as a punishment. He said the city poured $15,000 into summer youth initiatives and brought in a “mayor ambassador,” a rising high school senior, to provide input on city-planned teen activities, such as free movie nights at local theaters.

“We don’t want to punish them,” Sydnor said. “But we realize that young minds are easily influenced. We know how social media is. If someone says ‘let’s meet here’ and a bunch of people want to meet there, it could turn into something that we don’t want [it] to.”

Sydnor said police in Laurel are trained to handle these situations and the goal isn’t to lock up a bunch of kids. Depending on the circumstances, officers will warn violators and tell them to go home, or call parents to pick up their children.

Councilwoman Wanika Fisher, who chairs the Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee, wants the county’s young people to have spaces where they feel included and they can thrive, though not at the expense of public safety, said Justice Brown-Duso, Fisher’s communications director. But she doesn’t have a stance on whether curfews are the solution.

“She doesn’t take a side one way or the other,” Brown-Duso said. “She’s focused on figuring out what the solution is. In the same breath that people are saying these people are a threat, there’s also a very large portion of our teenagers who are not.”

Brown-Duso said Fisher is more interested in creating “wraparound services” for teens getting into trouble and coming up with collaborative solutions with schools, parents and rec centers.

Fischer and Sydnor acknowledged that “teen takeovers” are relatively rare. Most teens in the county aren’t causing a ruckus when they are out with their friends, Sydnor said.

“We have so many wonderful kids in Prince George’s County,” Fischer said. “It is a damn shame that a handful of these kids who want to go out and stir things up take the spotlight from the wonderful kids.”

A 2003 Urban Institute study in Prince George’s found no overwhelming “evidence either in support of or against the curfew.” But the study found evidence that the county’s policy “may have some effect in reducing violent victimization.” Back then, the curfew applied countywide and on weekdays.

D.C. police are looking for other teens involved in the Chipotle scuffle and are seeking the public’s help identifying additional suspects.

This article has been updated.

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